Does anyone know the approximate number of art projects that were registered this past year?

After reading about projects being vandalized, mooped on or worse, I wonder if our collective desire to volunteer/gift time... would lend itself to the art realm. We volunteer for greeter, ice and center camp shifts, what about shifts to keep an eye on artist installations? Especially the deep playa....and probably late into the night when things seem to happen.

Sad that this is something that even presents itself as a playa challenge. I would definitely volunteer for a shift. I'm not an artist but I would gladly defend the creativity of someone who is.

Nitevenus, there actually is a small crew called "Eyes on Art" that operates under the auspices of the Artery. Eyes on Art concerns itself with keeping art safe at night. Mostly this is about cruising around at night and making sure the art is properly lit so people can see it and don't smash into it. So, the idea is to protect the public from the art, rather than protect the art from the public, but there may be some crossover to your interest.

If you want more info on Eyes on Art, send me a PM. One of the contact people for that happens to be in AZ.

Also, you can sign up for "Man Watch" volunteer shifts, where you hang out at the man base in the wee hours keeping your eyes open for, well, I guess for Paul Addis types. You can sign up for that when you're on playa, I'd check at the "V Spot" which is the central volunteer coordinating location near Center Camp.

I recall the statistic being close to 250 registered art pieces placed on playa in 2010.

I figured the ARTery would be a starting point. Nice to know about the "Eyes on Art".... (will pm you).

Think of all the times most of us told so many newbies to volunteer themselves as their gift instead of trinkgifts. With all the veterans already filled up on Lamplighters, etc......why not direct towards being a playa art angel of sorts? Most of the large scale art have camps that support the artist but what about the smaller offerings?

Granted, I may be reading more into posts about art vandalism or theft, and the artist is supposed to provide security and LNT into their plan. BUT, couldn't the community entertain the consideration of more artist support? I would hate for the events art offerings to dwindle if the artist(s) felt it wasn't worth their time or creativity.

So awesome to know. My piece was near the Esplanade in 2010 but someone still managed to hit it and crack the outer wall, tie moop on it, and steam one of my lights illuminating the base. It's heart breaking, but the overall feel of the project was not ruined. I was able to keep it cleaned up.

buckycat wrote:Nitevenus, there actually is a small crew called "Eyes on Art" that operates under the auspices of the Artery. Eyes on Art concerns itself with keeping art safe at night.

I recall the statistic being close to 250 registered art pieces placed on playa in 2010.

ToasterSan Francisco, CA

(Living life running with scissors in my hand, wearing a plastic helmet and teethe-guard)

we've put a phone booth on the playa as part of an installation for the last 7 years...

It has been hit/knocked over by art cars, lights stolen off of it, painted, tagged, stickered, peed on, mooped in/on (daily occurance), phone receiver removed... and one year, the entire installation was taken and burned by renegades (we know who did that one, they were 'friends pranking', aaargh)

We check it many times each day/night, to keep it 'clean & operating'; that's just part of the responsibility of playa art...

My piece, "Heart Of the City" that I did with my girlfriend Kiki took some major hits also. People trying to stand or lean on it for pics busted through the acrylic so many times I finally had to wrap the bottom in plywood to keep it together. I watched one guy hit it full on with his bicycle and laugh, as if that was his intention. When I yelled at him he just gave me a look and rode off. Part of it was a learning curve for me I suppose. Have to bulletproof parts of future installations so that there's some hope of it surviving. But glad to hear there is someone keeping at least a partial eye on the art out there. And thank you to 99% of the burners who were appreciative and respectful. You're the reason we did it and will return again with another.

Three pieces I worked on: The Bike With 2 Brains in 2005, Facing Our Fears in 2006, and the Temple of Flux in 2010.

The BW2B was a vehicular art that I let go free, so it was the responsibility of the people who had it to take care of it. I expected it to get pretty beat up, but it did survive although the contents of the rear deck included a lot of beer cans and a tube of toothpaste. I think that because it had eyes and looked more fragile than it was, it tended to get cared for. I don't really know, though, as it disappeared for the whole week. It looked like people tried to repair the rear bike tires with duct tape, and someone (successfully, apparently) used a condom to replace the spring on the wind generator tensioner.

Facing Our Fears got MOOPed a bit but didn't get burned. I made the lighting which was a marine battery and six 1W LED's around the perimeter which lit it adequately. The LED's were mounted in a trapezoidal-cut 2x4 about 8 inches long. A matched trapezoid had a red "tail" LED and I put about an 8-inch-wide strap of sheet metal over the pair to form a turtle-like beastie to sit on the ground. The wires ran from underneath the middle to a controller by the battery. The lights closest to the road were beaten to hell but survived. I think they got run over more than once by art cars. Some of them were relatively untouched; all of them worked at the end of the week.

I can't really add anything to the Temple story that everyone didn't already see or hear about. When we were preparing to burn it, it was sometimes hard to tell what was MOOP and what was a totem. Beer bottles and jackets were always questioned.

I'm not sure why some art gets malicious attention and other does not. I suspectÂ â€” as was the case with the Bike With 2 Brains â€”Â that by including people in care-taking, you get better results. I don't know exactly how to foster that because I think ordering people ("Do not climb") or pleading with them ("I'm fragile; please don't break me!") exacerbates the problem with the kind of people inclined toward malice. Then again, I might just have been lucky.

I don't know if I would go so far as say malicious, but there definitely seems to be a "don't tell me not to" attitude that borders on extreme by some people. I had one girl who when we came to change batteries was pulling her foot out of a hole she had made in the heart. When we asked her not to stand on it (which had caused the hole) she said she could do whatever she wanted to and attempted to do it again. My girlfriend shoved her ass off and told her to leave. She went ballistic and started screaming that she would be back with her friends to "fuck this up good!!!!!" Nothing happened, but I wonder where the line is? As I said in an earlier post, the lesson for me is that I won't make any more art that isn't bomb proof for BM. I'm still new on the playa (three years) so much to learn I suppose.

Dr Helix wrote:I don't know if I would go so far as say malicious, but there definitely seems to be a "don't tell me not to" attitude that borders on extreme by some people. I had one girl who when we came to change batteries was pulling her foot out of a hole she had made in the heart. When we asked her not to stand on it (which had caused the hole) she said she could do whatever she wanted to and attempted to do it again. My girlfriend shoved her ass off and told her to leave. She went ballistic and started screaming that she would be back with her friends to "fuck this up good!!!!!" Nothing happened, but I wonder where the line is? As I said in an earlier post, the lesson for me is that I won't make any more art that isn't bomb proof for BM. I'm still new on the playa (three years) so much to learn I suppose.

Because Radical Self Expression is a Burning Man Tenet then naturally there is no line... there is no common sense.. there is no respect... no boundaries. Well, for some people anyway.

I don't hold that perception personally, considering what happen to my piece as well. Makes me very worried for next year's piece.

A long time Burner diva I know talks about the frat boys and non-participants that flood the event these days. I hear her frustration and see what she means even though I have only a couple years under my sarong.

That audience has no respect for the amazing work that gets put out there. Now that I know about the people who help police the art, I might join them next year. And maybe we can all help protect the pieces... those of us who value them anyway. :idea:

ToasterSan Francisco, CA

(Living life running with scissors in my hand, wearing a plastic helmet and teethe-guard)

[quote="toaster"][quote="Dr Helix"]I don't know if I would go so far as say malicious, but there definitely seems to be a "don't tell me not to" attitude that borders on extreme by some people. I had one girl who when we came to change batteries was pulling her foot out of a hole she had made in the heart. When we asked her not to stand on it (which had caused the hole) she said she could do whatever she wanted to and attempted to do it again. My girlfriend shoved her ass off and told her to leave. She went ballistic and started screaming that she would be back with her friends to "fuck this up good!!!!!" Nothing happened, but I wonder where the line is? As I said in an earlier post, the lesson for me is that I won't make any more art that isn't bomb proof for BM. I'm still new on the playa (three years) so much to learn I suppose.[/quote]

Because Radical Self Expression is a Burning Man Tenet then naturally there is no line... there is no common sense.. there is no respect... no boundaries. Well, for some people anyway.

I don't hold that perception personally, considering what happen to my piece as well. Makes me very worried for next year's piece.

A long time Burner diva I know talks about the frat boys and non-participants that flood the event these days. I hear her frustration and see what she means even though I have only a couple years under my sarong.

That audience has no respect for the amazing work that gets put out there. Now that I know about the people who help police the art, I might join them next year. And maybe we can all help protect the pieces... those of us who value them anyway. [/quote]

Both of these stories *shudder*
Im not afraid to call a spade a spade and a vandal a vandal and stop them
I know where I'll be next year and what I'll be doing to pitch in

I'm the MAN in a truck, burner who is stuck, you're in luck! I'll whip out my BIG tow chain and not charge you, not even one lousy buck!

moonrise wrote:Both of these stories *shudder* Im not afraid to call a spade a spade and a vandal a vandal and stop them I know where I'll be next year and what I'll be doing to pitch in

Yeah for sure. But I guess all we can be is more vigilant for each other.

What planet is some art stomping "radical expressionist" from? That's an abuse of the original term, a child can figure that one out. Guess what, if I catch one of those, it better get off Earth and don't step on the moon! Heh...

I'm helping with an art build, art vandals have NO CLUE of the time, money, teamwork and energy spent creating an art insallation and doubtfully have ever used a crayon in their lifetime...probably jealous "who knows what to call 'ems" Shameful *shudder* **shuddering more**

I'm up at all hours, now I know I'll be spinning circles around art installs...
freelance art guard here I come...I have a disabled cart...with headlights, hehehe...I'll contact the ARTery for guidance...
(I don't wanna blow my stack here or OP) &%^$#@!((*&!!!!!

I'm the MAN in a truck, burner who is stuck, you're in luck! I'll whip out my BIG tow chain and not charge you, not even one lousy buck!

There doesn't seem to be any trick. All the projects I have done we have simply assumed that we were going to be dealing with 15 year old boys and built the projects to hold up to as many as we thought could fit on it.

I think beyond that its important for the community to police itself. I have put myself in many an awkward situation telling good friends not to lock up yellow bikes. Asking people to be kinder to the art (other peoples), being an overall moop nazi, or telling the drug dealer to fuck off.

If we want a community that functions within our little experiment without having real law enforcement then we all just have to stand up and say no every now and again. Even if it means delaying for 30 minutes while you explain to a couple that the knocked down potties are not a trash can, and the pile of trash doesn't mean its cool to just add to it. Ohh, and yes, you do need to carry your water bottle back to camp. Ohh, and yes, we all should pick up the moop and walk it back,...

I have made art to share on the Playa for the last 4 years. These have been pretty simple but meaniful projects that I can afford, make,
transport, and then get out onto the Playa with few people. Each year I have learned by seeing damage to other pieces including my own, how to try and make them stronger and more idiot proof towards those people that just can't help themselves from destroying something. It came as a shock to me that people would actually damage, steal, and break others contributions to the shared art experience.

Having said that, one year a piece of my install got broken and someone had very neatly piled it all under another piece with care as if to say, sorry.. For me its always a challenge to figure out what height, sharp edges, shape, fragility, securing, lights, etc. so that people don't hurt themselves on it but also so that it can survive the human damage.

It is shameful but it can't stop those who want to share and have fun creating something to put on on the Playa. In your plan, just include ways around things you would just not imagine could happen, because it will and does. Carry on!

Although last year was only my first year, I really want to create something. And I have my heart set on what I want to create.

But after reading this thread, I'm not so sure. I had a really really hard time dealing with all the trash and moop at the event last year. Partly because I was expecting people to behave more appropriately (which now I know was naive). But at the same time I was borderline heartbroken that people would throw trash on the ground in such a beautiful place.

So if I was like that about MOOP, I really am struggling to imagine how I would feel to find someone had vandalized or broken my art piece. I most certainly would cry.

It is much like raising a child and sending it out into the world. You do your best and let go of expectations. Yadayadayada.... but I had to trust my art would survive. If it did not, then I had to let it go. It mostly did, but it got peed in, inside the fence. I guess they thought it was better than peeing where people would step in it.

I give away hundreds of pieces each year, most with my heart in them. I can only trust they are cherished and cared for.

Actually, Bucky survived, but he's literally falling to pieces now. Too much partying. I will have to Frankenstein him into shape soon. He's still riding with Larry in the semi, but now he's wearing a Santa hat. His legs stayed home.

Shit, I'm really glad I stumbled across this thread. I'm hoping to make a couple of buoys for the pier this year. I'm gonna have lights on top, and was considering using large glass covers. I better plan on using plastic, to help keep them in one piece. I'm also hoping to suspend them from a central post via some springs, so they will bob like buoys on water. But I may have to give up on that idea if they are likely to get torn apart.